IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Safety

Children's car seats still a rarity

Millions of Chinese parents are endangering their children's lives by not using child car seats, safety experts and industry insiders said.

China had 114 million automobiles on the road by the end of June, and 76 percent of them were private cars, according to the Ministry of Public Security. One expert's "optimistic" estimate put the number of child car seats in daily use at just 800,000.

"It's impossible that only 1 percent of families with a car have children," said Liang Mei, executive vice-president of the China Toy and Juvenile Products Association. She said it is more likely that the public ignores the safety seats even though they are effective in protecting youngsters in car accidents.

The association advises Chinese families to use car seats - of appropriate sizes - for children up to age 12.

Culture

Park to hold an exhibition in Berlin

Berliners will soon be able to get a taste of Yuanmingyuan Park, Beijing's "Versailles of the East", in their city. The park will hold an exhibition in the German capital as part of celebrations of 40 years of Sino-German diplomatic relations. In the one-month exhibition at the China Cultural Center, which will open on Dec 12, most items will be on public display for the first time.

Included are more than 200 photographs, 3D videos showing the "Garden of Gardens" in its heyday, a panoramic model of its main temple and antique replicas of 12 bronze animal heads that were part of a zodiac fountain once located in Yuanmingyuan.

Yuanmingyuan, or the "Old Summer Palace", was built from 1709 onwards and was a resort for the imperial families of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was burnt and looted by British and French military forces in 1860. Many relics, such as animal heads, are scattered in China and abroad.

Policy

Green card tweaks in the offing

Foreigners who live in China for 10 consecutive years may be eligible for a "green card", according to a proposed draft regulation. The draft, among other amendments to ease requirements for permanent residency, is being considered by the Ministry of Public Security.

Liu Guofu, an immigration law expert at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said the ministry proposed lowering the threshold for applicants at a symposium in August, and is gauging feedback from experts. Liu said the draft mostly targets immigrants in the field of technology who will be able to apply for permanent residency after living in China for 10 consecutive years, provided they have spent at least nine months each year in the country. They must be employed, have accommodation and a good tax record. The success of their application will no longer be dependent on the position they hold.

Society

Officials punished for five deaths

Eight people, including government officials and school principals, have been disciplined over the deaths of five street children last week in Southwest China's Guizhou province, local authorities said on Nov 20.

Five boys, ranging in age from 9 to 13, were found dead in a dumpster in the Qixingguan district of Bijie, a mountainous city in Guizhou, by a trash collector on Nov 16.

Based on autopsies, police confirmed that the children died from carbon monoxide poisoning after they burned charcoal for warmth in the dumpster, which is about 1.5 meters high, 1.3 meters wide and has an airtight lid.

Tang Xingquan, deputy head of Qixingguan district who was in charge of civil affairs, and Gao Shoujun, another deputy district head responsible for education, have been suspended from their posts and requested to submit an explanation for the incident to higher authorities, according to city government publicity officials. Other officials, including Party chiefs of the district's education and civil affairs bureaus, have been relieved of their duties.

City plans museum for sex slaves

Plans to build a museum highlighting the plight of sex slaves during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression are being considered by authorities in Nanjing. The museum is being planned for a site where Chinese sex slaves were forced to provide services for Japanese troops during the war.

Cai Jia, a senior publicity official in Baixia district, said the district government has submitted a feasibility proposal for the project to the municipal authorities for approval. If plans are approved, the museum will open in 2014 as a branch of the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Cai says.

More than 200 sex slaves, or "comfort women", from Japan, the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to work for Japanese soldiers in the buildings.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/23/2012 page2)